Andrew Mitchell's funding for Rwanda to be scrutinised

Andrew Mitchell's last act in office as International Development Secretary
was to restore millions in aid to Paul Kagame's regime in Rwanda, apparently
against advice.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, with Andrew Mitchell and Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni in KigaliPhoto: REUTERS

10:15AM BST 09 Oct 2012

MPs are expected to carry out an inquiry into Andrew Mitchell’s decision to give millions of pounds in aid to a Rwandan leader accused of human rights abuses.

Britain had initially agreed to suspend £16 million of aid to the east African country, in accordance with international condemnation of the regime.

Rwanda's president, Paul Kagame, is said to have shared responsibility for a bloody uprising in neighbouring Congo, although he has denied any involvement, and there are also concerns over his country's human rights record.

But Mr Mitchell's last act as International Development Secretary, before he was moved to the role of Chief Whip in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, was to restore £8m in aid to Rwanda. A further £8m was redirected to education and food security programmes.

Another £21m was set to follow later this year, apparently against the advice of officials in his department and the Foreign Office.

The funding has raised questions over whether Britain should be financially supporting a regime accused of arming rebels who have carried out atrocities, including mass rape, in the neighbouring Democrat Republic of Congo (DRC).

Sir Malcolm Bruce, chair of the Commons international development committee, reportedly said there were “questions to answer” over the decision to release the funds.

The committee members will meet next week to discuss the issue and Sir Malcolm has indicated some form of inquiry is likely to follow, the Daily Mail reported.

He said: “Direct budget support was suspended because of allegations about Rwanda’s role in the uprising in the DRC.

“Other donors have not been persuaded to lift that suspension, which raises questions about why we are so anxious to lift it, and to what extent we are able to influence events in Rwanda in political terms…

“As before with the department, the fact that they are refusing to release the policy advice raises suspicions ministers may have been acting on subjective information.”

Mr Mitchell is understood to have based his decision to restore aid to Rwanda on personal assurances from the president and on his own experiences running a small Conservative "charity" project in the country.

The Department for International Development, which is now headed by Justine Greening, has said the Secretary of State will consider the issue of budget support to Rwanda carefully before the next decision on aid in December.